Paramount Signs 'Red Rising' With Francis Lawrence

Paramount Pictures has acquired film rights to Pierce Brown's dystopian sci-fi series Red Rising, attaching director Francis Lawrence for an adaptation of the first novel.

Lawrence will direct alongside producer Cameron MacConomy and Francesco Goedhuis under their About.Blank banner. Justin Rhodes is hired to write the screenplay, having previously collaborated with Lawrence on a video game project Bioshock. Pierce Brown serves as executive producer.

The story follows Darrow, an impoverished miner in Mars society's lowest caste known as Reds. After losing his love and discovering humanity has colonized Earth centuries ago while Reds remain enslaved underground, Darrow infiltrates the ruling Gold caste to lead a rebellion against their oppressors. The series combines Roman mythology with science fiction across six published books currently.